Rebel Raid Kills 18 In Nicaragua

August 02, 1985|By Vincent J. Schodolski, Chicago Tribune.

LA TRINIDAD, NICARAGUA — A band of heavily armed anti-Sandinista guerrillas Thursday attacked this village, temporarily taking over the military headquarters in a four-hour battle that left at least 18 people dead.

The attack, which started at dawn and raged until 9 a.m., was the boldest in a series of recent raids by contra rebels of the U.S.-backed Nicaraguan Democratic Force.

La Trinidad, a town of 8,000 on the Pan American Highway 75 miles north of Managua, was overrun by the contras, who moved in from the surrounding hills.

They battled through the narrow stone and dirt streets to the small park in the center of town, where they besieged the militia headquarters.

Reporters who toured the building a few hours after the contras had been driven out saw evidence of heavy fighting inside the small concrete structure. Blood was being washed from the floors, the charred corpse of a Sandinista militiaman lay on the floor and survivors of the battle sat weary and glassy-eyed, talking about the events as they ate plates of rice and beans.

The building and a clinic next door were pock-marked by bullets, and several gaping holes in the walls appeared to be the result of grenades or rockets.

Esperanza Pacheco, a worker at the clinic, said no one in the clinic was hurt, but many of the supplies had to be moved to rooms in the rear during the battle. She showed reporters a garden behind the building where, she said, Sandinista soldiers fought to retake the headquarters next door by firing into a courtyard of the military building from the garden wall.

Outside was a burned-out shell of an army jeep and two trucks riddled with bullets.

Lt. Ricardo Vega, commander of the militia post that was overrun, said 18 people were killed: 11 contras and 7 pro-Sandinistas, including militiamen, army soldiers and the town`s security chief, a civilian.

The bodies of four young contras killed nearby were dragged into the center of town and dumped there for residents to view.

The men, who appeared to have been 18 to 20 years old, all wore U.S.-style fatigues. They appeared to have been killed by small-arms fire or shrapnel.

Vega said that, as the contras began to retreat, the government sent in Soviet-made MI-24 helicopters to chase the rebels into the hilly countryside around the town. It was thought to be the first confirmed use of the powerful helicopters, which the Sandinistas obtained last November, in a battle against the guerrillas.

Vega said none of the contras were captured, but three residents of the town apparently were taken away by the guerrillas as they withdrew.

Thursday`s attack marked the third day in a row in which the contras had struck in an area less than 100 miles from the capital. They previously damaged two bridges and ambushed two convoys of Sandinista troops, killing at least 35 soldiers.